Abstract

Mycobacterium avium (M. avium) is quickly becoming the most prevalent Mycobacterium infection in western countries. M. avium is an opportunistic pulmonary pathogen, infecting patients who often are vulnerable due to existing medical conditions. Antibiotic therapy of M. avium is long (generally 18 months) and often unsuccessful at eliminating the infection, promoting resistance to commonly used antibiotics, such as clarithromycin.

M. avium exists as a biofilm in lung infections, adding to the difficulty in eradicating the infection. My research investigated potential M. avium biofilm dispersing agents, as well as antibiotic synergy for improved M. avium eradication.

Our findings show that ten clinically isolated M. avium samples were all highly resistant (>16μg/mL) to antibiotics commonly used in the treatment of M. avium infections, both in planktonic and biofilm phenotypes. Some isolates were found to have MICs of >128μg/mL.

Future work should be conducted into the specific pathways aspirin and ibuprofen effect. Furthermore, development of effective agonists/antagonists of those pathways to disperse M. avium biofilms should be researched. Research into improved and novel Mycobacterial antibiotics are needed to develop drugs capable of successfully treating M. avium infections.